Thanks for the reviews people, they are very much appreciated. Um, this chapter was a little hard to write because Derek and Casey are being very confusing at this point of time. Just a warning that there's some choppiness up ahead that you might want to kill me for.
I stake no claim on the ownership of LwD.
ex⋅plo⋅sion - [ik-sploh-zhuhn] ; noun - a violent outburst, as of laughter or anger.
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--in which there's an explosion--
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Derek has always prided himself on his ability to keep a calm head no matter what the situation. It comes from playing years of ice-hockey where being the captain means you cannot lose your head and beat the bloody shit out of a meat-head attacker from the other team who needs to prove his superiority on the human power scale by turning you in to mashed potatoes.
So instead what you do is you dance in circles around him, until Mr. Pumped on Steroids is dizzy with confusion. Therefore you show him that not only did you beat him on the evolutionary scale intelligence wise but also that at the end of the day, you definitely got the better deal while he got gypped because brawn is not always equal to brain.
That's what comes of being calm, it makes you smart. Also when you know an expulsion is imminent due to mega prank gone wonderfully right, it helps to stay calm. It throws off Lassie as it throws off other people.
But today he's mad. He's mad that Casey threw him out, he's mad that Casey won't tell him and he's mad that even when he's doing what she wants him to do, she refuses to co-operate. She wants a fucking brother, so he's trying to be one, never mind the fact that sometimes his hormones drive him crazy enough to hijack the bathroom when she's using it. Because it's either that or stalking her bedroom and he's not sure he has the courage to do the second one. Besides rudely disrupting her in the bathroom is something that could be attributed to his constant need to aggravate her. No one is going to make anything much of it. They'll chalk it down to his lack of manners and no one will be none the wiser.
He sardonically wonders if lack of manners can be classed under doing whatever your step-sister wants. And she wants him to be a brother with all of the wonderful attributes that go along with it. From whatever little he has learned he's pretty sure that's called being 'considerate'.
And though she makes it nigh impossible, for chrissakes he's trying. He doesn't have much practice with it cause Lizzie and Marti haven't reached that age where they are dating and he's sure as hell's not going to let any boys near them, especially ones like him – because he knows his kind much too well.
But over Casey he has no control and sometimes it feels like he's watching a pantomime with cruelly tragic but funny end. Because all these boys, from them she expects the sun, the moon, the stars and they all miserably fall short, which brings her right back to where she started. And the light in her eyes which shines at the beginning making them sparkle and gleam such a pretty blue, it fades by end leaving behind a dull and glassy sheen every time this happens – which would be always. And every time he wants to shake her and ask her when did she start settling for less.
So he's doing his job – and mind you it isn't because of any sisterly feelings he might have towards her, to be honest they are the very opposite of sisterly – but she won't let him do that even. What does she want him to do? He cannot fathom how she lives her everyday life by not knowing what she wants. Because honestly her frequent mood swings with regard to him only make him think that maybe she needs to amp up her intake of Midol.
And now because he's mad, he's going to do something very drastic and stupid that will come and bite him in the ass.
But hey, he's all for living in the moment isn't he?
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He does some covert recon work, asks around casually enough to find three bits of information that may not be relevant enough to anyone else but make perfect sense to him. Mark plays a sport, Mark wears a leather jacket, and Mark is smooth. In short Mark sounds like the boys he's known all his life. They try to emulate cool but what they don't really know is that throwing on a leather jacket doesn't define you as cool. It's the attitude you need to pull it off. And from what he's seen of Mark, he thinks Mark makes it work as far as the ladies are concerned but other than that Derek sees right through him. Mark's trying really hard to be someone he's not.
This would be funny if there weren't a defiant Casey in the equation, determined to prove him wrong at every turn about Mark even before he starts reading out a list of his, according to her, alleged faults.
He briefly wonders not bothering because for once he doesn't want to be involved in supposedly breaking up Casey and whoever. He's really tired of not pointing out that it is not he who spoils everything, it is she who sets herself up for heartbreak with her unrealistic expectations from someone who can't shoulder them. He's all for finding the perfect person but what he cannot and won't understand is why she picks these losers in the first place.
But then something breaks the promise of not interfering he had made to himself. Frankly speaking, he's sure the promise wouldn't have lasted long anyways. He's Derek and interfering is what he does best as far as Casey is concerned.
Its Mark two-timing Amy and Amanda and that makes him decide that maybe watching him crash and burn would be nice after all. Because one of the unwritten rules about being cool is not being an ass to other human beings. And specifically, two-timing is not a quality that's very appealing. It will not look good on the fictional resume that Mark has for college fraternity houses. Oh and by the way, cool isn't the way half these college idiots behave. Roofing someone's drink only proves that you are desperate and doesn't make you any better than scum. (He's just letting himself know that he always isn't the bad guy)
Derek smirks because the foibles of these kiddies who so desperately want to be cool really are hilarious sometimes. And he would be laughing harder if it weren't for the fact that Mark decided to mess with Casey.
Casey exists in that grey area of someone as important as family but not family. He'll never be able to class her in with family simply because then he'd have to go and commit himself in an insane asylum. Family having 'feelings' for family is the kind of subject that will make him throw up spectacularly.
But then again she's important. And in a weird symbiotic way he knows that they both feed off each other in order to exist. Also they define themselves in relation to the other, though both will furiously refuse to admit it.
And there's also the bit where he's impressed by the fact that Mark actually has the guts to try out some shit like that. He's not going to commend it because it's the most foolhardy thing that Mark has ever done but you at least got to give the guy props for trying right? And Derek's fair if not anything else.
And even if Casey calls him out on all of this, he can always tell her was simply being a good brother( and boy does that leave a bitter taste in his mouth) and that good brothers always sabotage their sister's dates.
He'll just leave out the part about said brother not even wanting to be brotherly because seriously how fucked up is it to be attracted to someone you call your sister?
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Casey's on high alert for sabotage on his part and it's taking all of his ingeniousness to set the ball rolling. The first order of business is distancing himself from the whole thing because geez, it wouldn't help having his name written all over it in big bolded letters, now would it?
And one day he's really going to hell for this but he solicits Marti's help for this one. Because her word is law in this house of people who most of the times are strong willed but when faced with the will of Marti will bend over backwards to accommodate her. The perks of being the youngest are plentiful as well as nice.
Marti is only too happy to listen because as things go, she's got a whole different idea of who Casey should be with and it's surprising how blind Smerek can be sometimes. But never mind, by the time she waves her wand, both of them will never even know what hit them.
Next it's Ed and Lizzie' s turn and they are much harder to convince than Marti because over time Ed and Lizzie have learnt that associating with Derek only brings them trouble and they like their heads to stay on their shoulder and not be cut off by an irate Casey, thank you very much. He has to hand it to the kids, they make them so much smarter nowadays but this, this is all or nothing and he tells them that, using the right amount of persuasion in his voice.
He does pull it of cause hey, he's Derek, Lord of Lies and Master of Persuasion and at the end of the day's it's all for Casey and one more thing to throw back in her face if ever this whole carefully orchestrated plan should go up in smoke.
One thing his Dad always thought him was, keep all your bases covered and be prepared for all eventualities. Well, he's finally putting those life lessons to use, maybe just not the way his Dad wanted.
Well, what Dad won't know can't hurt him and even though it's making this curious ache start up in Derek's chest.
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The night she brings Mark home, everything is a disaster. Marti gives him the third degree and despite the furry soft cat ears on her head, she can be pretty menacing when she's shooting questions at him with sniper like accuracy. Lizzie and Edwin work their magic and halfway through the dinner, Mark has to hurriedly excuse himself to the bathroom. Derek allows himself a tiny almost negligible smirk into his potatoes and thinks maybe next time he needs someone to aid him in his covert recon mission, Edwin and Lizzie would make able lieutenants. They'll demand a heavy price but he's sure they can work out some sort of the agreement.
Nora and George on the other hand seem a little oblivious and preoccupied. Under usual circumstances Derek would wonder but for this the more the lack of parental observation the better. By the end of the dinner, Mark looks pale and queasy, Casey's about to cry, Marti's smug and Edwin and Lizzie are a little worried that maybe they did go a bit to far.
And Derek, he's feeling a little too detached from all of this.
Because there's a feeling in his gut that maybe this time he did go a little too far. Ordinarily tears are inconsequential but it's the looks of guilt on Edwin's and Lizzie's faces that makes him feel like prize idiot.
This is what happens when's he angry because when's he's angry, he cannot think straight, let alone figure out the consequences of his actions. Because remember, there are always consequences.
Maybe he can flip the whole thing around on Casey. But there's a little voice in his head squeaking that the fault is his all alone and that there are other, better ways of letting a person know that their boyfriend is Casanova without the charm or class.
It's his damned conscience.
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After dinner he waits and waits and waits for the tirade against him that never never comes. Everybody has a smile plastered on their faces, especially Casey. The one on her face is wide (almost blinding and it hurts with its brilliance) and he would think there's nothing wrong except that she looks eerily reminiscent of a Stepford wife. And as anyone can attest, they are creepy.
The family disperses and he thinks that maybe, nothing's wrong after all and he ignores the guilt eating away at his stomach. He tells himself that what he did was right. And when you tell yourself enough, play it in a loop in your head really, at some point you begin to believe.
He's on the bed, trying to get rid of an image of a single tear rolling down Casey's face – that's so movie cliché but guess what, it works— because all this guilt is so not good for his constitution, when there's a knock at his door. He sits up immediately and expects Casey to come barging and yelling at him ( it will finally ease this stupid guilt) but all he sees is a scrap of paper, which has been shoved under the door.
He picks it up and reads three little words that make the room spin.
I hate you.
It's simple and uncomplicated and tears through his defenses, his pretences, his carefully plotted excuses like a knife and Derek suddenly sits down because he's feeling slightly dizzy, which is no way related to what just happened. And then he feels a telltale prickle at the back of his lids but of course he ignores it because once again, guess what?
Boys don't cry.
If you were confused I'm sorry. I managed to confuse myself spectacularly too. Anyhow, I assure you there's point behind all of this which will eventually be made. And if there's anything you want me to explain, do ask. I'll try to explain to the best of my abilities. Also if there are mistakes do point them out. :)